Control means for unarming projectiles



July 28, 1964 R. APoTl-naLozA 3,142,225

CONTROL MEANS FOR UNARMING PROJEOTILES Filed June 22. 1961 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 5

1N E N TOR ROBERT APOTHELoZ ATToR/vsvs July 28, 1964 R. APo'rHELoz 3,142,225

CONTROL MEANS FOR UNARMING PRoJEcTrLEs Filed June 22. 1961 2 sheets-sheet 2 /NVENTOR 1374 75 70 9 RQBEpT-KPOIHELOZ TTORNEYS `The invention relates to a shooting device particularly for explosive projectiles having a head fuse for instantaneous detonation, and to a device for adjusting the explosive projectile at will to instantaneous or delayed detonation, this shooting device being a tiring device or an explosive projectile with passive or active propulsion.

Known projectiles of this kind contain in most cases a head fuse which can be adjusted at will to one of the kinds of detonation. The adjustment is then carried out immediately before the shooting by turning the head of a switch-over pin protruding from the circumference of the fuse casing.

Projectiles of this kind are well suited for being loaded singly into the shooting device, i.e. for example into a gun barrel or a rocket projector tube. However when a large number of projectiles of major caliber is stored in a magazine connected to the shooting device, projectiles of the kind referred to are not convenient, when the inherently novel problem is set that their adjustment to instantaneous or delayed detonation is to be carried out without the projectiles having to be taken out of the magazine.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a shooting device, i.e. a projectile and/or a magazine having a control device which allows the solution of the aforesaid new problem with simple and reliable means.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a shooting device in which it is possible to carry out the re-adjustment to delayed detonation by simple and reliable means, independently of the position of the projectiles as regards their longitudinal axis.

It is moreover an object of the invention to provide a shooting device in the construction and design of the head fuse of which no double-action thereof has to be taken into consideration, so that it can be built without compromiseV as a highly sensitive instantaneous detonation fuse.

It is another object of the invention to provide a shooting device whose fuse for delayed detonation is able to function owing to its arrangement in the bottom of the projectile even when the forward part of the projectile has been partly destroyed, for example after hitting a hard ground.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide, in a shooting device, means for adjusting the explosive pro-` jectiles after their nal insertion into the magazine at will to instantaneous or delayed detonation, i.e. to give the gunner the choice of tiring'the explosive projectiles adjusted to one way of detonation or to the other after the same have already been inserted into the magazine, and without having to take them out of the magazine again and thus to have the possibility of subdividing the content of a magazine consisting of a number of explosive projectiles at will for different manners of detonation by a simple re-adjustment which may be carried out from outside the magazine, and of doing this even without having to interpose a pause in the firing.

With this and other objects in view which will become apparent later from this specification and the accompanyingV drawingsV I provide a shooting device comprising in combination: an explosive projectile, a head fuse set for te States ate-nt MZZS Patented July 28 1964 HCC ing both said fuses operative and a second position put-N ting the said head fuse out of operation.

For example I provide an explosive projectile, a head fuse set for instantaneous detonation upon impact tted to the head of said projectile, a percussion pin slidablyv mounted in the said head fuse, an impact head connected to the said percussion pin and protruding forward from said head fuse, inertia means in the transport condition of the said projectile locking the said head fuse in aA safety condition and upon tiring said projectile releasing the said head fuse to assume a cocked condition, the said impact head when moved back relative to the said head fuse in the safety condition thereof locking said percussion pin in the said safety condition even after having been cleared by the said inertia means, a control device having a first position clearing said impact head and a second position engaging and pushing back the said impact head before ring into the position locking said perc ussion pin, and a bottom fuse set for delayed detonatlon fitted to the bottom of said projectile.

The shooting device according to the invention may comprise a magazine, explosive projectiles each having a irst fuse set for instantaneous detonation upon impact and a second fuse set for delayed detonation upon impact, and control means arranged on the said magazine having a iirst position clearing the said projectiles and a second position engaging the said rst fuses of the said projectiles and putting the same out of operation after the final insertion of the said projectiles into the said magazine and prior to firing the same.

These and other features of my said invention will be clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal section of an explosive projectile;

FIGURES 2 andV 3 show a longitudinal section of the forward portion of a head fuse on a larger scale namely;

FIGURE 2 in the safety position and FIGURE 3 is in the locked position;

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic front elevation of a rocket projector device;

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic longitudinal part section on a larger scale of a rocket projector device on the line V-V of FIGURE 4.

In FIGURE l the shell of the projectile G is denoted by l, and the explosive charge by 2. Into the head of the projectile a fuse 4 is built-in, and moreover into the bottom 3 a further fuse 5 is screwed, which extends intov the explosive charge 2. This bottom fuse 5 acts in a known manner accordingly not described in detail, so that after the impact of the projectile on the target the explosive charge 2 is detonated with a delay.

According to FIGURE 2 a cylindrical body 7 is inserted in to the fuse casing denoted by 6. At the front end of this body 7 a groove 8 is cut in, wherein the detonator cap carrier 9 is slidably inserted and guided which carrier is designated as a prismatic slider. In the' safety position as shown in FIGURE 2 the axis of the detonator cap 1) inserted in a through-bore of the slider 9 lies outside the fuse axis and of the detonator core 11 forming the connection to a booster charge not shown in the drawings. The slider 9 biased by a spring 12 is retained in the safety position by a pin 13, which is partly shown only in the drawings, and which can be shifted back. The axis of the blind bore 14 co-incides in this position of the slider 9 with the fuse axis, and lies in the path of the percussion pin 15.

The percussion pin 15, held by its collar 17 in the bore 18 of the fuse casing 6 is connected with the impact head 16. The latter protrudes ahead of the fuse casing 6 and is subject to the bias of a spring 20 abutting the plate 19. In a transverse bore 21 of the casing machined at the level of the collar 117 of the percussion pin and issuing into the longitudinal bore 18, a pin 22 is slidably mounted. The inner cylindrical end 22a of this pin is forced by the spring 23 against the surface of the collar 17 of the percussion pin, while the other end 22b has a flange-like enlargement and protrudes into a groove 24 cut into the surface of the fuse casing 6. The cap 25 screwed on the fuse casing 6 protects the impact head 16 and the pin 22 in transport and when handling projectiles provided with such fuses from being actuated unintentionally.

When making the rockets ready for the firing, i.e. for example when filling the same into the magazine of an automatically reloading and firing rocket projector device, the caps 25 are unscrewed from the fuses and removed. When firing, the safety pin 13 moves back relative to the fuse body under the action of inertia, and releases the slider 9, whereafter the same is moved by the spring 12 into the cocked position, in which the detonator cap 1t) lies behind the tip ofthe percussion pin 15. Upon im-y pact on the target the impact head 16 with the percussion pin 15 is thrown back into the detonator cap, whereby the explosive charge 2 is instantaneously detonated without delay.

When the explosive charge 2 of the projectile is intended to detonate in the target with a delay, the response of the instantaneous fuse, i.e. of the head fuse 4 is prevented immediately before the tiring in the manner shown in FIG. 3. By axial pressure on the impact head 16 the percussion pin 15 is moved back so far that its tip plunges into the blind bore 14 of the slider 9. Under the bias of the spring 23 the end 22a of the pin 22 snaps into the bore 18, reaches behind the collar 17 of the percussion pin 15 and retains the same in the position locking the slider 9, even when upon firing the pin 13 moves behind the slider 9. When firing the projectile accordingly the bottom fuse only can respond, and this with delayed action owing to its arrangement and construction.

. In FIGS. 4 and 5 a rocket projector device is diagrammatically illustrated. The rocket motors R1, R2, R3

connected to the explosive shells G1 to G7 are moved in the magazine 26 towards the firing mechanism 27by conveyor means known in themselves and accordingly not illustrated. At the front wall 28, which connects the firing mechanism 27 to the magazine 26, a control member in the form of a latch 30 with a handle 34 is articulated on two lugs 31 and 32 by means of a pin- 33 in such a manner that its rear end engages with an inclined face 30a into a slot 29 of the end wall 28. The latch 30 is retained in a first position indicated in FIG. 5 in full lines by means of a pin 35', which penetrates into corresponding bores of the lugs 31, 32 and through the latch 30. In this iirst position the impact heads 16 of the head fuses 4 are forced backward during the movement of the rocket projectiles towards the firing mechanism 27 by running up the inclined face 30a of the latch 30, whereby in the manner described hereinabove the response of these fuses upon impact of the projectiles on the target is prevented.

By pulling out the pin 35 and turning the latch Sil by its handle 34 the same can be brought into a second position indicated in FIG. 5 in chain-dotted lines, and may be fixed there by re-insertion of the pin 35, the pin being then anchored in the lugs 31, 32 and penetrating through the bore 36 in the latch 36. In this second position of the latch 30 no re-adjustment of the explosive projectiles G2 to delayed detonation is effected, so that the head fuses 4 can respond and the detonation of the projectiles takes place instantaneously.

In the embodiment described an essential feature of the explosive projectile and of the firing mechanism, i.e., of the shooting device, consists in that the device for the adjusting of the device for instantaneous or delayed detonation is arranged frontally, while the handle 34 may however be connected to any device, in order to be able to perform the aforesaid re-adjustment from any other favourably positioned place.

The invention is not, however, intended to be limited to this single embodiment. There are other possibilities ofrconstruction open to a person skilled in the art, of arranging the means for adjusting the explosive projectiles to the manner of detonation desired after their last insertion into the magazine. v

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A means for controlling the firing of explosive projectilesrcomprising a magazine in which said projectiles are aligned for feeding to a firing mechanism, each of said projectiles comprising a head fuse set for instantaneous detonation upon impact fitted to the head of said projectile, a bottom fuse set for delayed detonation upon impact fitted to the bottom of said projectile, a striker pin in said head fuse movable longitudinally of said projectile to unarmed position and control means positioned upon said magazine cooperating with said movable striker pin for positioning said striker pin at unarmed position as said projectiles move in said magazine.

2. A means for controlling the firing of explosive projectiles comprising a magazine in which said projectiles are aligned for feeding to a firing mechanism, each of said projectiles comprising a head fuse set for instantaneous detonation upon impact fitted to the head of said projectile, a percussion pin slidably mounted in said head fuse, an impact head connected to said percussion pin and protruding forward from said head fuse, inertia means in the transport condition of said projectile locking said head fuse in a safety condition and upon firing said projectile releasing said head fuse to assume a cocked condition, said impact head when moved back relative said head fuse in the safety condition thereon locking said percussion pin in said safety condition even after having been cleared by said inertia means, a control device upon said magazine having a first position clearing said impact head and a second position engaging and pushing back said impact head before firing into the position locking said percussion pin, and a bottom fuse set for delayed cussion pin has a collar, a spring biased locking pin mov-- able transversely of said percussion pin for engaging ahead of said collar of said percussion pin in the unarmed position of said impact head.

4. A means for controlling the firing of explosive projectiles comprising a magazine in which said projectiles are aligned for feeding to a firing mechanism, each of said projectiles comprising a first fuse set for instantaneous detonation upon impact, means for unarming said first fuse, and a second fuse set for delayed detonation upon impact and control means cooperating with said unarming means arranged on said magazine having a first position clearing said unarming means and a second position engaging and operating said unarming means after the final insertion of said projectiles into said magazine and prior to firing the same.

5. Means as claimed in claim 4 wherein said control means is arranged intermediately of said magazine and firing mechanism while said projectiles are fed from said magazine to said firing mechanism.

6. A means as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of said projectiles has a movable impact head protruding forwardly out of said projectile for locking said first fuse in unarmed condition when moved back into said projectile, said control means in said second position engaging in succession said impact heads of the projectiles while fed in said magazine to said tiring mechanism, and thus locking said rst fuses in unarmed condition.

7. A means as claimed in claim 6, comprising an end wall having a slot therein structurally connecting said magazine and ring mechanism with one another, said control means being pivotally mounted outside on said end wall and penetrating partly through said slot into the range of said impact heads of said projectiles while the latter are fed from said magazine to said ring mechanism, said control means having an inclined face which in said second position of said control means engages said impact heads while said projectiles are moving past said control means and pushes said impact heads back into their respective projectiles.

8. A means as claimed in claim 7 wherein said control means is mounted frontally on said end wall.

9. A projectile comprising a shell containing an explosive charge, a bottom fuse set for delayed detonation of said charge upon impact tted to the bottom of said shell, a head fuse set for instantaneous detonation of said charge upon impact fitted to the head of said shell comprising a percussion pin movable from a forward armed position to a backward unarmed position, a movable impact head connected to said percussion pin protruding forwardly from said head fuse movable together with said percussion pin from said forward armed position to said backward unarmed position; a detonator cap carrier having a blind bore slidable from a safety position to an armed position, said percussion pin entering in unarmed position when said carrier is in said safety position into said blind bore, means retaining said carrier before tiring in said safety position and moving after tiring to release said carrier, spring means urging said carrier after release from said safety position to said armed position, and resilient detent means slidably contacting said percussion pin in said armed position for locking said impact head when moved before firing to unarmed position so that said bottom fuse upon ring will cause delayed detonation of said charge upon impact.

10. A projectile as claimed in claim 9, wherein said percussion pin has a collar and said resilient detent means comprise a spring biased locking pin movable transversely of said collar of said percussion pin in said unarmed position.

11. A means for controlling the firing of explosive projectiles comprising a magazine in which said projectiles are aligned for feeding to a firing mechanism, each of said projectiles comprising a rst fuse set for delayed detonation upon impact tted to the rear of the head of said projectile, a head fuse set for instantaneous detonation upon impact tted to the head of said projectile, a percussion pin movable in said head fuse from a forward armed position to a backward unarmed position; an impact head connected to said percussion pin protruding forwardly from said head fuse movable together with said percussion pin from said forward armed position to said unarmed position, a detonator cap carrier having a blind bore slidable within said head fuse from a safety position to armed position, said percussion pin entering in said unarmed position when said carrier is in said safety position into said blind bore, control means arranged on said magazine having a rst position clearing said projectiles and a second position engaging said impact heads and moving them to said unarmed position, means upon said control means extending outside of said magazine to move said control means to one of said positions, resilient detent means slidably contacting said percussion pin in said forward armed position locking said percussion pin in said unarmed position and allow said bottom fuse to cause delayed detonation upon impact when said control means is moved to said second position.

12. A means as claimed in claim 11 wherein said control means is provided with an inclined face arranged intermediately of said magazine and firing mechanism and in said second position engaging in succession by said inclined face said impact heads thereby unarming said rst fuses while said projectiles are fed from said magazine to said tiring mechanism.

13. A means for controlling the firing of explosive projectiles comprising a magazine in which said projectiles are aligned for feeding to a firing mechanism, each of said projectiles comprising a first fuse set for delayed detonation upon impact fitted to the rear of the head of said projectile, a head fuse set for instantaneous detonation upon impact tted to the head of said projectile having a safety position and an armed position, an impact head protruding forwardly from said head fuse movable from a forward armed position to a backward unarmed position so that after ring when said head fuse is in said armed position an instantaneous detonation will be caused on impact and when said head fuse before firing is in said safety position said head fuse is unarmed, detent means locking said impact head in said backward unarmed position, control means arranged on said magazine movable from a rst position clearing said projectiles into a second position engaging said forward protruding impact heads before firing and putting the same into said backward unarmed position in which said head fuse is in said safety position and is made unarmed to permit said rst fuse to cause delayed detonation upon impact.

14. A means for controlling the tiring of explosive projectiles comprising a magazine having an end wall with a slot therein in which said projectiles are aligned for feeding to a ring mechanism, a head fuse set for instantaneous detonation upon impact fitted to the head of said projectile, a bottom fuse set for delayed detonation upon impact fitted to the bottom of said projectile, means to control the preventing of the response of said head fuse upon impact of the projectile on a target, said means being pivotally mounted on said end wall and penetrating said slot into the range of said head of said projectile and having a rst position leaving both said fuses operative and a second position putting said head fuse out of operation.

l5. Means for unarming projectiles having movable impact heads from an armed to an unarmed position as they are fed to a firing mechanism comprising a magazine in which said projectiles are aligned and a pivoted lever mounted upon said magazine movable manually from a position where said lever clears said impact heads and to a position where said lever contacts said impact heads and moves them to unarmed position.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,550,977 Lukens Aug. 25, 1925 1,775,660 Teitscheid Sept. 16, 1930 2,388,691 Horan Nov. 13, 1945 2,450,553 Jorgensen Oct. 5, 1948 2,715,873 Thompson Aug. 23, 1955 2,741,184 Deringer Apr. 10, 1956 2,837,999 Lindsay June 10, 1958 

1. A MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE FIRING OF EXPLOSIVE PROJECTILES COMPRISING A MAGAZINE IN WHICH SAID PROJECTILES ARE ALIGNED FOR FEEDING TO A FIRING MECHANISM, EACH OF SAID PROJECTILES COMPRISING A HEAD FUSE SET FOR INSTANTANEOUS DETONATION UPON IMPACT FITTED TO THE HEAD OF SAID PROJECTILE, A BOTTOM FUSE SET FOR DELAYED DETONATION UPON IMPACT FITTED TO THE BOTTOM OF SAID PROJECTILE, A STRIKER PIN IN SAID HEAD FUSE MOVABLE LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID PROJECTILE TO UNARMED POSITION AND CONTROL MEANS POSITIONED UPON SAID MAGAZINE COOPERATING WITH SAID MOVABLE STRIKER PIN FOR POSITIONING SAID STRIKER PIN AT UNARMED POSITION AS SAID PROJECTILES MOVE IN SAID MAGAZINE. 